Yet another restaurant is launching in downtown Denver: Lower 48 Kitchen is opening its doors Monday at 2020 Lawrence St.

Mario Nocifera is the owner, and he’s partnering with chef and co-owner Alex Figura. The two met while working at Frasca in Boulder, and their exemplary pedigrees go beyond that bright spot on their resumes. Figura worked at such acclaimed restaurants as Vetri and Osteria in Philadelphia, plus El Celler de Can Roca, a Michelin 3-star spot in Spain. Nocifera has deep experience with restaurants in San Francisco, including Michael Mina.

“We’re inspired by the lower 48 states of the continental United States, and will draw our influences from the various regions,” Nocifera said Friday, noting that the menu featured contemporary American fare. It was a busy day for Nocifera: He was eagerly awaiting a shipment of stylish chairs for the dining room, and the restaurant’s liquor license was ready to drop at any moment.

Patrons will note some nifty touches of Americana in the decor. Check out the photo accompanying this post: It’s a photo of workman mounting a pair of 16-foot railroad tracks (500 pounds apiece) to century-old telegraph poles. The poles were found in Truckee, Calif., near the Nevada border, and the tracks, courtesy of some friends of Nocifera, are from the Long Island Rail Road.

Mario Nocifera, a Frasca Food and Wine alum, spent more than a year hunting for space for a new restaurant. He found it. He plans to open Lower48 in the fall in the Ballpark neighboorhood (Cyrus McCrimmon)

Alex Figura, a chef with experience at nationally acclaimed restaurants like Vetri and Osteria in Philadelphia, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York State, as well as Michelen three-star El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, is Nocifera’s partner. Figura will helm the kitchen, and Nocifera, who has opened or transitioned eight restaurants in San Francisco (including Michael Mina) and Colorado in the past six years, will run everything else. The two guys met at Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, where both of them worked.

“We are an American restaurant that embraces regional cuisine,” said Nocifera.

“We could say clam chowder, but it would maybe be a sauce for a fish instead of a chowder,” said Figura. “We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves, saying the menu will be full of traditional American dishes, like jambalaya. It could be in the style of jambalaya, but not the exact dish.”

The dinner-only place, with 70 seats at tables, 20 at the bar, and another 24 on a patio, is slated to open in the fall; between now and then, they will be looking for additional investors.